In contrast, small business owners gave California, Rhode Island and Illinois an “F,” while Connecticut and New Jersey both earned a “D” grade.

Sacramento, Providence and Buffalo were the surveyâ€™s worst-performing cities as rated by their small business owners.

More than 12,000 entrepreneurs nationwide participated in this yearâ€™s survey. The Thumbtack.com Small Business Friendliness Survey is the largest survey of its kind and is the only survey to obtain data from an extensive, nationwide sample of small business owners to determine the most business-friendly locations. The survey ranked 82 cities and most states on what makes a positive environment for small businesses.

â€œCreating a business climate that is welcoming to small, dynamic businesses is more important than ever, but rarely does anyone ask small business owners themselves about what makes for a pro-entrepreneur environment,â€ says Jon Lieber, chief economist of Thumbtack.com. â€œThousands of small business owners across the country told us that the keys to a pro-growth environment are ease of compliance with tax and regulatory systems and helpful training programs.â€

Some of the survey’s key findings include:

Small businesses inÂ Texas,Â Utah andÂ Idaho have rated their states in the top five every year this survey has run, whileÂ California andÂ Rhode Island have been rated in the bottom five every year.

The friendliness of professional licensing requirements was the most important regulatory issue in determining a stateâ€™s overall friendliness to small businesses. Closely following licensing requirements was the ease of filing taxes.

Once again, tax rates were a less important factor than the ease of regulatory compliance in determining the overall friendliness score of a jurisdiction. Two-thirds of respondents said they paid their â€œfair shareâ€ of taxes â€“ that is, they felt like they were neither under-paying nor over-paying.

Small business owners who were aware of training programs offered by their government were significantly more likely to say their government was friendly to small business than those who werenâ€™t. Awareness of training programs raised overall scores by 10 percent, while 76 percent of those who said they were aware of government-sponsored training programs for business owners ranked their local government as â€œsomewhatâ€ or â€œvery supportive,â€ and only 8 percent of these said local government was unsupportive.

Only 19 percent of respondents said they were prepared for implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Female entrepreneurs were more likely than male entrepreneurs to say that their state government was friendly to small business, while male entrepreneurs were more likely than female entrepreneurs to have a positive view on the outlook of their state economy.

Kentuckyâ€™s grade was this yearâ€™s most improved, jumping from a B- to an A.

â€œIt is critical to the economic health of every city and state to create an entrepreneur-friendly environment,â€ said Dane Stangler, vice president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation. â€œPolicymakers put themselves in the best position to encourage sustainable growth and long-term prosperity by listening to the voices of small business owners themselves.â€

Complete results can be seen here and include full sets of rankings and dozens of easily searchable quotes from small businesses nationwide. Each state and city also has its own data visualization showing its detailed survey results.

Survey methodology

Thumbtack.com surveyed 12,632 small businesses across the United States. The survey asked questions about the friendliness of states and cities toward small business, such as:

“In general, how would you rate your state’s support of small business owners?”

“Would you discourage or encourage someone from starting a new business where you live?” and

“Do you think you pay your fair share of taxes?”

Thumbtack.com and the Kauffman Foundation evaluated states and cities against one another along more than a dozen metrics. The full methodology paper can be foundÂ here.

About the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that aims to foster economic independence by advancing educational achievement and entrepreneurial success. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo., and has approximately $2 billion in assets. For more information, visitÂ www.kauffman.org, and follow the Foundation onÂ www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn andÂ www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.

About Thumbtack

Headquartered in San Francisco, Thumbtack is a consumer service that helps millions of people accomplish the personal projects that are central to their lives. Thumbtack introduces customers to experienced professionals who are available, interested and qualified to meet their specific needs. Whether looking forÂ a painter for their home,Â a math tutor for their child, orÂ a DJ for their wedding, Thumbtack provides anyone in the U.S. with an easy and dependable way to get started, compare options, and hire with confidence. The company has raised a total of $49 million from Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, Javelin Venture Partners, and other prominent investors.

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Welcome to CopyLine Magazine! The first issue of CopyLine Magazine was published in November, 1990, by Editor & Publisher Juanita Bratcher. CopyLine’s main focus is on the political arena – to inform our readers and analyze many of the pressing issues of the day - controversial or otherwise. Our objectives are clear – to keep you abreast of political happenings and maneuvering in the political arena, by reporting and providing provocative commentaries on various issues. For more about CopyLine Magazine, CopyLine Blog, and CopyLine Television/Video, please visit juanitabratcher.com, copylinemagazine.com, and oneononetelevision.com. Bratcher has been a News/Reporter, Author, Publisher, and Journalist for 33 years. She is the author of six books, including “Harold: The Making of a Big City Mayor” (Harold Washington), Chicago’s first African-American mayor; and “Beyond the Boardroom: Empowering a New Generation of Leaders,” about John Herman Stroger, Jr., the first African-American elected President of the Cook County Board. Bratcher is also a Poet/Songwriter, with 17 records – produced by HillTop Records of Hollywood, California. Juanita Bratcher Publisher